Empty chairs at an Empty table
This is an answer to one of my own challenges on Hook, Line, and Fanfiction. "Write a song fic using the song "Empty chairs at empty tables." I don't own RW and Empty chairs at empty tables belongs to Les Miserables.
There's a grief that can't be spoken.
There's a pain goes on and on.
How long has it been since I had been here last? I couldn't recall, though it had been long enough for the place to border on dilapidated. A tear fell down my ageing face as I pushed down the cracked splintered front door which had been leaning on one hinge and walked into the building. Everything was more or less the same as I remembered. All the furniture was still here though stained and weathered with time along with being covered in a thick layer of dust. Most of the Electronics and valuable items were gone. Thieves had broken in one time and stole Mia's computer as well as the TV and video game console along with Mia's grandfathers sword collection. Thankfully Mia had deleted all information on it pertaining the Ronin Warriors. If the next warriors didn't have the information it was not her concern. The armors had broken her heart.
Empty chairs at empty tables
Now my friends are dead and gone.
The horrifying images of our final battle against the Dynasty were vivid in my mind. A evil demon lord named Goryo had over taken the Dynasty slicing through the defenses that Kayura and the warlords had created like wheat. The castle was under siege before anyone realized it. Only Dais the warlord of illusion had managed to escape to the mortal relm though he was seriously wounded.
When Dais appeared to us Ryo and I hurriedly helped the Warlord upstairs where Mia directed us to free guest room. Cye had gone in search of bandages while Rowen ran out of the house to find Sage. There had been so much blood while Cye and Mia had patched up Dais's wound. I had called emergency but I quickly hung up. How were we to explain a two foot long gash along Dais side. He had his armor to protect him but still he would have bled out by the time the medics arrived. I didn't know a person could bleed that much. When Rowen had returned with his best friend in tow, Dais told everyone about how Goryo had taken them all by surprise and that Kale, Kayura, and Sekhmet had been locked in the throws of battle and instructed him to get assistance from the Ronin Warriors. While Dais was finishing his story Sage started to heal Dais's wounds.
At first things seemed normal, but then Cye became concerned about the time it was taking. Rowen and Ryo started panicking. Normally the healing's shouldn't have taken more then two minutes, five at the most but this was going for ten...twenty minutes. It was when blood for some unknown reason started to run down his forehead, as well as out of his tear ducts and any other orfis on Sage face that I pulled him away from Dais. The former Dark warlord also had some concern as to what was going on. The four us and calling Sage's name trying to get him to wake up. He was too far into the trance for any of us to be heard by him. I tried shaking him but it didn't help either, finally I resorted to slapping him across the face which worked. Cye and Mia were appalled I would do such a thing. But it wasn't like anyone of us had not wanted to slap Sage across the face at some point or another. And besides it worked didn't it. Sage looked around as if confused as to where he was. Sort of like a person who has just awoken from a fainting spell. I carefully moved away from him as he climbed to his knees.
"I didn't know things like that could happen if you have the ability to heal someone." We all heard Dais say. We all echoed the same feeling silently. Cye knelt down next to Sage in concern. Mia had gone to go get a wash cloth to try and wash away the blood from Sage's face. Which had smeared slightly when I slapped him.
"Sage?" I heard my best friend ask. "Sage, will you be alright?" Sage said nothing in responce. He just knelt there looking at the weave of the almond brown carpeting at least thats what it look until his hands shook as lifted them and looked at them as if there was something there that we couldn't see.
"Why?" He softly said. So softly we barely heard him. I was surprised to see a tear fall down his normally calm and reserved face."Why can't I do anything? Why now of all times can't I..." At that moment Sage broke down into a fit of tears. It was heart breaking to watch. Ryo at once knelt by Sage's side and put a hand on Sage's shoulder in a comforting manner. Cye got up to go get a blanket as he said something I didn't really catch about Sage going into shock. Rowen knelt down in front of his best friend wrapped his arms around Sage's shoulders. Something rather out of character for ether Sage or Rowen to exhibit. Those two were never the sort for physical contact with people.
Dais looked as though he wanted to say something but thought better at it as he looked up at me. He looked rather stunned and confused by the comfort and love we had for one another. Probably the Dark Warlords had never learned to have the unity that we had gained while fighting the Dynasty. Even though they had been together way longer then the five of us ever have. I guess it could be because Talpa didn't want to have his Warlords get any ideas about turning against him.
Dais's injuries had been too severe for Sage to heal to level where he wouldn't be in danger of dying. This had been the first and only time the lot of us had ever witnessed Sage break down into tears. The fact he couldn't help stop an ally from dying must have been a heavy blow. The only thing we could do was keep Dais comfortable until he past away a couple hours later. Sage kept acting like it was his fault he couldn't use his powers too save Dais. He hardly even talked to anyone after that. And when he did it was always a simple one word answer. I didn't know why he had such a problem with it, after all it wasn't like we had any outstanding friendship to the Warlords or anything. We were ally's with them yes, but at the same time it wasn't like we had forgotten all the shit the Warlords put us through when we were fighting Talpa. Cye guessed it was the all the added stress of everything we had been through breaking down all his barriers.
After we had given Dais a small funeral we all gathered at the dining room table. Ryo and Mia sat at either end of the table while the rest us sat along the sides.
"We do agree that we don't want Talpa or anyone like him to enter this world." I had said. All of us nodded in agreement.
"Right. Goryo's killed the other Warlords, he needs to be stopped."Ryo agreed.
"One problem." Rowen interjected."Dais is dead, we can't get to the Dynasty ourselves."
"He does have a point." Cye said. "All the other times we traveled to the Dynasty we had the help of the Ancient or someone from the Dynasty itself."
"Hey, no sweats." I said. "The mortal world is on their to do list anyway. All we have to do it wait for them to come to us."
"When?" Sage asked listlessly from where he sat next to Cye.
"Sage is right." Rowen said. "We don't even know when the Dynasty will stage an attack."
"Then why don't we make them come to us." Ryo stood up.
"So what do you have in mind?" I said enthusiastically. The others looked up as well. It was rare that Ryo decided to come up with a plan.
"There is large clearing in the forest some ways from here." Ryo said. "I don't want to damage the natural beauty of the place. But it's far enough from the city so that human's won't be involved. We will fight Goryo and anything else the Dynasty throws at us. He will not get away with what he has done. The Ronin Warriors will see to that." We didn't need to say anything. By killing the Warlords Goryo had made that fight all the more personal. We were going to prove the Warlords didn't die needlessly."
"You should start in the morning." Mia agreed. "We're all emotionally exhausted and facing the Dynasty on partial strength will be more deadly then not." We didn't argue as we trudged off to bed.
We were surprisingly all awake at sun up. Quickly eating our breakfast before walked out the door. Calling forth our sub armor as we set forth into the forest. My friends never knew we wouldn't see this place again. Our last fond memory would be of Mia waving good-by to us with White Blaze by her side.
The hike took three hours to reach our destination. Fortunately our armors gave us an endurance boost without them we would have been exhausted by the time we got here. But with the sub-armors on we hardly broke a sweat. We were able to rest a few moments before a Gate to the Dynasty appeared and a booming craggy voice from within reverberated through out the area.
"I don't see why the so called great Emperor Talpa lost to vermin like you." Goryo said as he appeared. Much like Talpa, Saranbo, and Saborstryke he was a monster clad in armor. Though the tentacles that served as his hair made him appear as though he had an octopus for a head. There also was a huge hole in his armor where his heart should have been.
"Goryo." Ryo yelled. "We will all sooner die then let you have the mortal world."
"That is exactly what I expect you to do." Goryo said as he called forth an ominus orb of sickly looking purple light into his had. "Die!" He fired the orb at us in a blast of power. Goryo's attack created a huge crater in the ground. The five of us had barely gotten out of the way in time only for the blast to send us flying in different directions. Though the smoke I heard the yell of thousands of Dynasty soldiers as they spilled forth from the Dynasty gate with intent to kill, maim, and destroy. I heard Rowen yell out Ryo's name as a streak of red armor dashed at Goryo bulky frame. I didn't have time to join him as I met up with the first wave of Dynasty soldiers. I couldn't see my friends, though I could hear them fighting not too far away.
Here they talked of revolution.
Here it was they lit the flame.
"Everyone! Call the Inferno!" I heard Cye yell though the slowly clearing smoke. Without question I sent my power in a streak of golden light which joined up with the streaks of green and light blue. A streak of indigo light rocketed ahead of themleading the charge as all four lights hit Ryo and joined with him as he called forth the power of the white armor.
Without our power fighting the soldiers became harder. But we fought for all we believed in as the smoke cleared. Suddenly I heard Rowen cry out in pain. Looking up I saw him standing on a rock before he toppled over an arrow sticking out of his chest. Sage was at his side in seconds trying to keep his friend alive. Cye and I fought our way to guard them.
Here they sang about tomorrow'
And tomorrow never came.
We gasped as we heard Goryo laugh evilly. Our powers had returned to us. If that was the case then that would mean the White Armor had been defeated. We all risked to look, and to our horror their lay Ryo dead at Goryo's feet. Goryo fortunately was not without injury.
"We need to take him down together, for Ryo!" Rowen growled as he struggled to stand up. He swayed on his feet as his blood pressure dropped slightly.
"But your badly injured." Cye protested in concern. "Ryo wouldn't want us to die for him."
"He wouldn't want us to with our tails between our legs either." Rowen yelled. "This is our only chance to take down Goryo. We need to put our powers together and keep fighting until he's dead. If we give up then the Mortal World is handed to the Dynasty on a silver platter."
"Let's do it! For Ryo!" I yelled.
"For Ryo!"Cye and Sage both yelled.
"ARROW SHOCKWAVE!"
"SUPER WAVE SMASHER!"
"THUNDER BOLT CUT!"
"IRON ROCK CRUSHER!"
Our powers combined and hit Goryo head on. We pushed with everything we had. All our anger. All our hope. All our love for this world and the people who lived in it. We pushed our selves until we couldn't take anymore. I could feel my body sway as I fought to keep my focus until everything went black.
When I came to all that remained of the battle was the charred remains of what had once been a large beautiful clearing. Around me were remains of numerous Dynasty Soldiers. There was no sign of Goryo anywhere. Everything looked almost peaceful.
"Hey guys!" I said. "I think we did it!" I heard no answer. "Guy's?" Turning I gasped. Near by me lay the lifeless bodies of Cye, Sage, and Rowen. Their armors long since vanished. Cye lay curled on his side as though he was sleeping. Rowen lay sprawled on his back his clothes stained with blood thanks to the arrow that protruded from his chest. Sage lay slumped over him. I didn't want to believe what I was seeing as I crawled to where Cye lay. "
"Cye! Cye?" I called shaking my best friends shoulder but got no response. "Cye, please wake up! It's over...we need to go home. Guys, come on! If this is a joke it's not funny." Tears came to my eyes as the hard reality hit my like a ton of bricks. My friends had died, sacrificing their lives to defeat Goryo. The only thing I could do for them was cry.
From the table in the corner
They could see a world reborn
And they rose with voices ringing
I can hear them now!
The very words that they had sung
Became their last communion
On the lonely barricade at dawn.
I stopped my train of memory as I walked to the dust covered table in the dinning area. So many memories, so many arguments, so many good time, and just as many bad times. If this table could talk what would it say. We had planned many fights here. And eaten meals as brothers. I remembered this table being the one I sat at as I told Mia and Yuli everything that happened. How everyone fought valiantly and died to save this world.
How she had cried. She told me it couldn't have been true. Yuli insisted it wasn't possible because there was no way they could die. I finally had to show them the place I buried my friends so that they would believe. The three of us grieved for what felt like days. In time Mia deleted all the files on her grandfathers computer and said that she wanted nothing more to do with the Ronin Armors. She left this house as well. Abandoned it, leaving it a shrine of memory to what had once been the Ronin Warriors.
I don't know where White Blaze went. Mia had told me he had left sometime before I had returned and had never been seen or heard from again.
I helplessly watched Yuli grow up into an angry youth. A few days after I told Mia and Yuli about what happened I saw Yuli angrily swinging one of Sage's old swords at a tree. I had tried to stop him by saying that Sage wouldn't have appreciated his swords treated like that. Yuli just shot back that Sage was dead and there for had no say in how his swords were treated. He hated the armors because to him it was like the armor's gave up on us. I couldn't correct him but I couldn't help but agree with him either. The armors used us and had since the beginning that was true. But wasn't better to be used by them to help save this world then to be enslaved to destroy it.
Oh my friends, my friends forgive me
That I live and you are gone.
There's a grief that can't be spoken.
There's a pain goes on and on.
I had returned home a week afterwards and continued my life as usual. At school when I was asked where any of them were I would say I didn't know. It was hard to explain that they weren't in attendance because they were no longer living. At lunch I would sit at the table where the five of us always sat. Just sitting and waiting for four friends who would never come again. At home I would frequently look at the answering machine as though expecting there to be a call from one of them. And just lay in bed staring that the ceiling. I knew I should inform their families about what happened. But to do so would be to admit to myself that they were gone and that was something I didn't know how to do. It was when Cye's mom, and Sage's younger sister called me to see what had befallen their loved one that I admitted everything. About the armors, about how everyone fought and died to insure the safety of everyone else. Rowen and Ryo on the other hand had no family at home so I left a phone message explaining everything.
When the families learned the truth they all met up with Mia and myself. There was some arguments about how to explain why their children were missing since the school had been giving calls saying that their sons hadn't been at class. Other arguments were where the five of them would be placed. Sage's grandfather wanted his grandson's ashes buried along side his ancestors. Sage's father for the first time stood up to his father-in-law by standing up and saying that it was bad enough his only son was dead. But it was worse for him to be separated from the friends of whom he had died along side. They died as unsung hero's and so they should remain.
After a few more hours we came to an agreement. The four graves had to be desecrated temporarily and the bodies exhumed. With in a week the school had been told the four of them had died in a car crash. A memorial was held at the school for all of them. Most of the girls crying because Sage was no longer there to brighten their day. But there were few people who's lives weren't touched by one of us at one point or another.
Phantom faces at the window.
Phantom shadows on the floor.
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will meet no more.
I could feel tears fall down my face as I wept. I had not cried like this for many years. I did nothing to stop the tears. I needed to release them from their slumber. I could feel every memory this place had from having to draw straws as to who would wake up Rowen in the morning to the five of us curled in the living room on stormy nights finding comfort in each other. All these were shadows of the past that would forever be part of this place and part of my heart.
Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me
What your sacrifice was for
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will sing no more.
"Kento?" I heard Yuli say as he entered the building. He had grown into a nice young man and now had a family with two children in college and one child with a family of their own. I smile near toothlessly at him. The years had not been as kind to Mia and I as they had been for Yuli. In his hands was a few bouquets of flowers.
"Mia said that you would be here." Yuli said.
"Yeah," I said from where I sat on the couch by the table. "I just wanted too see this place one last time before I join them in the next world."
"Don't talk like that..." Yuli said. "Your in good health and there are years ahead of you."
"It's true there are." I answered. "Shin is starting high school soon. I couldn't be more happy to be his grandfather. I heard that Seiji recently had a daughter."
"Yes." Yuli answered with a wistful smile on his face. "Ryo and Touma are
beginning college soon." I smiled at him before my expression became serious.
"I thought you wanted nothing to do with this place any longer." I asked.
"I don't.." Yuli thought flatly. "But I also want to pay my respects to this place to. I took me this long to realize that to be angry at them for their deaths. I was a child then and thought of you all as real live super hero's. Which you were. But at the same time even super hero's have a point when they die. It's just too hard to realize because where to busy expecting them to be invincible."
"They live on, just not in the way we want them to." I answered. "Don't you think I wanted to grow up and grow old with the four of them, the five of us being friends to the bitter end. But you and I know that's not how things happened, but they live on in memory isn't that why you named your sons after Sage,Ryo, and Rowen. And I named my grandson after Cye. Because we know that our friend can live on through them and through us. Part of us wants to keep their memory alive."
"I guess the Armors weren't as great as they appeared,were they?" Yuli answered as placed a bouquet of flowers in front of each of four chairs at the table. Red roses, green lily's , light blue daisies, and deep blue bachelor buttons . In the center was placed a bouquet of white calla lilies
"There is a Chinese proverb I once heard that said: 'To attract good fortune spend a new penny on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing his name on the wings of a dragon.' " I said. Essentially it means to find good fortune one must find ways to keep the old friendships alive and to aqquire new friends who share your interests. But the true friends will be immortalized in your heart. Even if the armors were indeed evil the only thing about receiving my armor that I considered a blessing was the fact I was able to have four friends that I was glad to know and proud to have fought side by side with.
"That's very insightful." Yuli said sounding impressed. "I feel the same way. If they didn't have the armor's I wouldn't have met them. I guess I'm not mad at them for dying. I know being a Ronin Warrior was never easy. But I can't help but be mad at the armors for letting them die like that."
"We gave everything we had and then some." I answered."Now all that's left of them is four empty chairs at an empty table." I paused reflectively for a moment. "I think it's time we returned home. Mia will be expecting me."
"I used to think Sage or Ryo would win her heart. But you were there for her through all of this." Yuli said was the same grin she used to have as a child. "It's no wonder she would marry you."
"My luck of the draw." I said. "I used to wonder why I was the one who survived. But I think when used our power they knew they wouldn't make it and they wanted to have one of us live on so that their families could know what happened."
"Can I offer you a ride home?" Yuli asked.
"Yes, thank you." I said. I had taken the bus here earlier. Yuli and I left the building. Turning I looked into what had been a home for a short part of my life. "Farewell guys," I said into the gloom. "Until we meet in the next life." With that I closed the door and it was never opened again.
People come and go,but some stay and leave foot prints on your heart leavingf us forever changed.
Author unknown.